Tempo
by Sasusakui
Summary: A look inside the mind of the German soldier when he first met with Szpilman in the ruined house. Two to three chapter one-shot. Rated Teen for a touchy and sensitive subject and time.
1. Chapter 1

Tempo

There were no words for the treachery I was infringing upon my country at this moment, against all of Germany. I stood there silently, looking at him as he quivered under my gaze clearly afraid. Clearly underfed and clearly a victim of the unimaginable horrors of living in complete and utter panic. He looked like a beggar, or something close to one, a limp in his right leg causing him to lean to the other awkwardly. I was, very literally, death personified and looking at a potential prey. It was in my power to kill him, my right to kill him, but questions rose from my mouth instead. A curiosity building inside me.

"Why are you here? Who are you?"

It was clear German and this was Germany, the motherland, surely this man understood.

"What are you doing?"

More silence in my presence, maybe he didn't know what I was saying at all. Most Jews did, but the minority did not. Maybe he was part of that small number.

"Do you understand?"

A frightened little deer he was, his eyes followed my every move even though I did not make one, a sense of alarm in his eyes.

"I do"

Perfect, almost perfect, German was spoken back to me. His heritage got in the way of the true Aryan accent that most Polish had ,but this was expected of them. They were not true Germans.

"Then...what are you doing?"

He gulped uncertainly, probably thinking of possible escape routes. "I...I was trying to open this can"

My eyes ventured to the offly large can on the floor, its contents still streaming into the cracks of the destroyed wood. He looked at it briefly in longing and disappointment, there was still more inside.

"Do you live here?"

He said nothing and I wondered where his small bit of courage went, he had enough to speak freely in front of a German officer that was perfectly capable of killing him and not being charged of any crime.

He shook his head. "No"

"Your profession then?"

It took him time to answer, maybe to think of an elaborate lie to obtain his right to live in the face of danger. That's how they were depicted and viewed, liars and greedy money makers that like to steal, to cause others and the motherland pain. Who was I to test this known fact to the test? Who was I...to question our one and only ruler?

He shivered, his breath coming out in a larger cloud than mine. I was warmer than him I observed, more clean shaven, more fortunate...and here we were on equal ground.

"I was a pianist" he muttered lowly.

I did not believe him momentarily, they were liars as the general had said. They would do anything to get out of a bad situation and I believed him in full, they lied all the time. What made this one so different?

"A pianist"

I mimicked his words. Trying to apply the profession as well as the adjective to the thing standing before me, it did not fit. I needed proof of what I could not see. I walked away from him, the slightest movements sending frightened expressions across his face.

"Show me"

I walked ahead of him expecting him to follow behind like a wounded animal, my word was law, any Aryan's word was law over the heads of those that endangered the country. He did not follow. I stopped and turned around when I did not hear the echoing steps behind me.

"Come on"

It was a command and he obeyed. He limped along past me as I held open the barely intact door for his entrance.


	2. Chapter 2

Lament

His hands shook violently as the tempo increased to an impressive speed, but calmed during the melodic parts. While listening to the chorus of the piece, my mind went back to a subordinate of mine that awaited my return in the cold. Either he waited patiently or impatiently I didn't know but what I did know was that my soldiers were loyal to me, and none of them had any idea at all that I was betraying everything they we were trained to know- what I was trained to know. I didn't notice when the Jewish man in front of me stopped playing, he stopped pounding his life into the ivory keys in front of him and it took me time to notice. He was telling the truth, I realized, he- a Jew did not lie to me.

It would be foolish to still call him a liar after he had proved his worth to me, it was perhaps in their eyes- the normal reaction of an Aryan citizen or soldier. Perhaps the reason for that reaction was because of our love for the motherland, and our pride in it. After the fuhrer boosted our moral in our home, no one wanted to see it tarnished again, even though it may have been the truth. We needed something to blame- someone to blame, whatever it may be- no one honestly cared what it was.

I realized the truth a long time ago. We were slowly but surely condemning these people to a life of solitude and then eventually to death. It wasn't hard to tell, but for them it was just a new set of rules. They didn't know what hit them, the signs had come slower for most of them that thought the best in the motherland as well. It was a decision for me then, side with my home and follow behind the new pride budding in the near future or, refuse to ostracize the very people who had already built a generation's worth of life here. It was obvious what decisions I made, but I still knew the truth and I recognized it every time I saw the fear I struck in the eyes of a Jew.

In confidence, I could set this fact to blame for my actions. I knew the truth and I didn't turn a blind eye to it like most others did and because of this, my treacherous actions were not so treacherous- indeed they were not. But they were, in my heart- which always belonged to the motherland- my actions were despicable and spiteful towards my beloved. I even had full blooded Aryan family to show for my love of the motherland, a beautiful wife and just as beautiful children, where did my faith go?

It most likely went to the man in front of me. The slimmer of hope in me that one day, this man or the shell of one, may find his place back where he was meant to be. As a musician, in front of thousands of his kind and thousands of others that weren't who were still fond of him, yet still politely envious all the same. I wished that for him, and knew for a fact that this would soon all end and he and his people would be free and I would be paying for the crimes that I have done for they were many. I was not predicting the future, I was seeing it. Seeing it bar me and some other group of fellows in with barbed wire and the skeletal beings that yelled profanities at us as we stayed silent- gawking at them with straight faces.

My arm was slipped in a cast and there was a Jew that walked near, it compelled me to go up to him.

"Do you know of a musician, a Jewish one?"

This brought him closer to me, probably surprised that I, a German elite soldier, was even taking time to speak to him.

"There was a lot of Jewish musicians"

A glint of accusation lingered in his hallowed eyes and bleached skin surrounding them. I knew well what he meant by this and completely ignored it, I didn't have the luxury of time to go back and forth with this one.

"A popular one, a pianist"

His eyes widened in surprise, someone fitting the slim description most likely coming up in his mind. "Szpilman...the one that played on the radio. What about him?"

"Tell him to help me. I helped him when he needed it"

The Russian soldiers were coming, settling the standing German soldiers on the ground, a rise of panic came crawling up my stomach. Time was running out and the Jewish skeleton was giving me a quite contemplative look as he turned away, then turning back towards my direction and asking my name.

A firm hand fell on my shoulder, harshly sitting me down in the mud and my hopes with it.

"Hosenfield. Wilhelm Hosenfeld"

* * *

A/N: that's the end of it :/ I feel like this chapter was a bit more juvenile than the last but it was only to effectively get my point across without using big words that weren't really necessary. For all that have read this fan fiction, thank you. To all that more or less hated this fan fiction, thank you for taking the time to try it out first. And to those that loved it and may have teared up at the end...I don't have a nice end note for you all, it's over and done with so there's nothing you can do :/


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